Seattle Slew an intra-stable squabble

AUBURN, Wash. – The four-horse stakes race has become a staple at Emerald Downs. One week after Stopshoppingdebbie defeated three rivals, including two of her stablemates, in the Boeing Handicap, Del Rio Harbor will try to beat three rivals, including two stablemates, Sunday in the $50,000 Seattle Slew Handicap for 3-year-olds.

Del Rio Harbor leapt to the fore in Emerald’s 3-year-old division with a 2 1/2-length victory in the one-mile Coca-Cola Handicap on June 22. He’ll try to carry his speed a little farther in the 1 1/16-mile Seattle Slew, the same distance at which Del Rio Harbor captured the Gottstein Futurity to cap his 2-year-old campaign last September.

Del Rio Harbor has won 6 of 9 starts, all for Bar C Racing Stables and Desert Rose Racing, a wide-ranging ownership group that includes trainer Doris Harwood as well as Neal and Pam Christopherson, who stand Del Rio Harbor’s sire, Harbor the Gold, at their farm in Hermiston, Ore.

Harwood’s other entrants are Noosito, who races for another well-populated ownership group, Last Rose Stable, and Kenai King, a Bar C Stables homebred whose chances are remote but who helps fill the race for his more-accomplished mates. Harwood has rounded up some of Emerald’s top riders, with Gallyn Mitchell getting a second chance on Del Rio Harbor after giving him a well-timed ride in the Coca-Cola. Leslie Mawing has the call on Noosito, and Rocco Bowen will ride Kenai King.

The fourth entrant, Charlie Thomas, will be handled by Felipe Valdez for trainer Dan Markle.

Noosito, who will carry 120 pounds to Del Rio Harbor’s 122, prevailed by five lengths in the 6 1/2-furlong Auburn Handicap on May 25 but is winless in two appearances around two turns. That likely speaks more to a small sample size than any deficiency with Noosito. A full brother, Noosa Beach, won multiple stakes races at route distances, and Noosito, Harwood said, made big gains physically in his transition from ages 2 to 3.

Bettors are certain to zero in on Del Rio Harbor and Noosito, though Charlie Thomas could come into play if the Harwood pair locks up in a speed duel. Charlie Thomas finished third in the Coca-Cola after being stymied behind horses for much of the trip.

“Del Rio Harbor and Noosito are unbeatable, I think,” Markle said this week. “Those two horses are pretty hard to separate. They are gigantic, and Doris has them going really good. The only chance we can beat them is if we get the right pace setup. The best thing I can hope for is for them to go really fast in the first half-mile and then back up at the end.”